Social Class
One's position within human society is typically dictated by their profession or the profession(s) of their parents or family. In almost every human society there are five levels, five ranks that one can fall within based on their birth or profession. Freedom The degree to which one is free to pursue their own interests, travel or resettle in different towns or cities is all a reflection of their social class. Peasants are typically tied to the land they were born on and are often servants to a noble lord as either share-croppers (farming) or as a generalized labor force.They have protection under the law, no rights in court and have only the hope that their leige lord is kind enough to support them through the winter months. Some peasants, in an attempt to earn extra money and, potentially, allow their children an escape from their lives, will sell the child to a Merchant who will then use them as a servant or slave. Commoners, Merchants and Guildsmen are all, typically, free to move from town to city, travel as their trade requires and the like. They have some protection under the law (assuming that they belong to a guild) though they have no rights in court. Whereas Commoners and Merchants typically will move to find work, Guildsmen are settled in their community and rely upon contracts and referrals from others within their guild for employment. Nobles are empowered to do as they please - within reason. They are able to travel as they wish though typically they are tied to their lands as its chief protector. They have the most protection under the law (as they help enforce it) and a wide variety of rights in court. Education The degree to which one is educated typically depends upon their social class. Peasants receive no real education aside from what could be considered 'common knowledge'. They have no trade or profession and therefor have few skills to pass on to their children. Commoners, Merchants and Guildsmen all recieve some degree of formal education within their trade or profession typically by means of an apprenticeship. Nobles recieve a formal education in reading, writing, arithmatic, history, politics, and a wide-variety of subjects considered to be 'standard' to all nobles. Literacy The degree to which one is able to read or write typically depends upon their social class. Peasants receive no education and so have no access to how to read or write. Should their be a local priory there is usually not enough money within the family to have the child educated. However, on rare occasions, a Priory will admit students of Peasant birth and educate them for a minimum of one year. Each year the child is assessed and if the funds are available within the priory they will allow them to continue. However: Children of Peasant families, typically, owe service to their local lord and it is up to the lord to determine if a child of such a family -should- be allowed to leave his 'work force' to become educated. It is for this reason that many peasant families who wish their child to be educated and rise in social class, will typically attempt to 'orphan' them at either a Temple of Amara (where they are raised and cared for with other orphans) or if the child is old enough they will be 'abandoned' at the local Priory. Commoners, Merchants and Guildsmen all recieve some degree of formal education within their trade or profession typically by means of an apprenticeship. Additionally they can often afford to send one or two of their children to a local priory for further education. Typically this class of person will have spent at least a few years attending a local priory school where they learn to read, write, do sums and learn a bit of history. By the time they are twelve, however, most children of this class are put to work within their family's trade. Nobles recieve a formal education in reading, writing, arithmatic, history, politics, and a wide-variety of subjects considered to be 'standard' to all nobles. A noble's education doesn't typically end until they are sixteen years old. Category:Culture Category:Profession